So today I went in for an OB check with my OBGYN and I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. I was actually kind of scared when I saw that the doctor had the fetal doppler to listen for the baby’s heart. This may seem silly, but that little machine was the beginning of the call of doom for my first planned pregnancy that ended in miscarriage in January of this year. The nurse took it out at my 16 week appointment and couldn’t find the heartbeat. She acted like everything was okay and that it was not always easy to hear the baby’s heart with the doppler, so she took me into the ultrasound room “to find where the baby was located”. The idea being that she could then place the doppler directly over the baby, but of course the ultrasound showed that there was no heartbeat, so this wasn’t necessary.

And when the doctor took several seconds to locate the baby’s heartbeat during today’s appointment my anxiety level skyrocketed. But then we heard Baby “Wiggles” heart come through that crackly fetal doppler speaker and I was able to relax. At the end of my appointment I met with the nurse and we filled out some more of my paperwork. They had been holding off in case this pregnancy didn’t “stick” and I miscarried early. During my chat with the nurse she laid out the next few appointments I would need to make with her and the doctor. I was also given some handouts and instructions to add to my regimen of supplements.

I’m already taking 2 children’s complete vitamins as well as extra folic acid every day. I’m not taking the regular pre-natal supplements because I have a difficult time digesting the amount of iron that they have in them (even if I take them with food they make me vomit).

Children's vitamins eliminates Iron-induced vomiting

Now I get to add 2 – 3, 000 units of vitamin D3 and 200 mg of DHA (I was given a coupon for Expecta LIPIL). I was able to get the D3 in 1000 unit softgels, so if you include the Metformin I’m taking for my insulin resistance, I’m up to 8 or 9 pills a day. I feel like an elderly person who needs to have an organizer so that they don’t forget to take any of their drugs for the day.

I have an appointment to go in again next week for another ultrasound. The next few weeks are going to be crucial because with the miscarriage I had in January they believe that the baby’s heartbeat stopped at around 13. 5 weeks. Today marks the week 11 checkpoint, so the next few ultrasound appointments are going to be very nerve-wracking.

When one has recently had a miscarriage, it’s natural to be concerned that it might happen again–even to the point of daring fate. Although this website seems to embody your fear and ambivalence, you also seem to be quite publicly committed to making sure this pregnancy is successful. Any decisions you make about this pregnancy are yours alone to make, whether or not anyone else chooses to comment. I wish you well.

Susan: We haven’t deleted a comment yet. The only comment I have not yet posted was one from a user who asked that it not be posted because the name they put in was too unique and recognizable. Perhaps you would like to explain which comment you feel has been deleted?

Pam: We want to make sure we are well prepared, no matter the result of the vote.

This baby is alive and deserves (expects!) to live! DO NOT even think of “terminating” him. Human life begins at conception. Whether or not you’re religious, you should know that the mother of Jesus appeared to St. Bernadette and said “I am the Immaculate Conception.” She did not say “immaculate baby, immaculate woman, immaculate fetus,” etc. She is by God’s holy title: The Immaculate Conception.